I want to create a small task (60 minutes) to eval...

# android

[Paul Woitaschek]

I want to create a small task (60 minutes) to evaluate a candidate's code skills. How would you design such a test?

[wbertan]

So, maybe a project with some skeleton, and some code already.
BUT:
- In the code have a bug (or some bugs);
- Have some unit tests already, but the actual class has in the methods a TODO(), so they need to implement those methods
- You have a class implemented and ask them to write the tests for it (Maybe combined with the previous one, where one of the methods is TODO() but without the test where first they write the test and implement it - or are they going to write the method and then the test <-- a good thing to watch as well).

[Dias]

shouldn't they do all of it? if you give them code to fill out, you don't test their design skills, you don't give them freedom to choose approach they want to take

[Dias]

(tho I like the idea of a bug in the code they need to trace)

[wbertan]

He says a time limit of 60 minutes, so at least he could see a few things:
- how they "understand" a project when they first time look at it.
- can see how they work to find and solve the bug.
- How they manage logic (where I expect is the main part of those methods with TODO().
- How they write a test in a project they don't own.
Maybe this could lead to a next step, to give a code challenge with more time on it.
He can time box each step (please don't show to the candidate a timer, or something like that), can make each step different parts of the project, so subtle can say to the candidate to move on, when the time boxed for that task finished.

[wbertan]

In my opinion, architecture, patterns, etc, each company will have their own, even two companies following the same pattern can implement it in different ways, so that either way they need to "onboard" on your main project and company. But logic, problem solving and debugging code, that the learning step is bigger, so assessing those I see more value (depending on the level you expect the candidate, and other factors...)